What is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?
Autism Spectrum Disorder (or ASD for short) was originally known as Asperger’s Syndrome (High-Functioning Autism). It is a part of the Autism Spectrum which consists of a variety of learning challenges. There are some people that are diagnosed with Low-Functioning Autism which makes it difficult for them to communicate or interact with people. There are others who are High-Functioning (like me), where you would never know unless we said so.
Some of the things that we struggle with include:
- Social Skills
- Difficulty adapting to change
- Specific interests
Some of our strengths include:
- A great intelligence
- Focus Oriented
- Persistent
- An ability to recognize patterns.
- Detail Oriented
A Brief History:
In the 1940’s, Hans Asperger, a Viennese pediatrician noticed young boys who had difficulty socializing and communicating with other people. Even with this setback, these boys were very smart and you could imagine their IQ exceeding even your every day scientists in labs for lack of better term. Because these symptoms were also considered symptoms of Autism, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other professionals believed that it was more of a form of High Functioning Autism. You could imagine people like Thomas Jefferson, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein or even fictional characters such as Sherlock Holmes as people who might have had ASD.
If you would like more information about ASD, you can look at the link below from the Autism Society.
We still don’t know what causes Autism. But rather than trying to cure it, my hope and prayer for you as you browse through this website is that you are encouraged and that you and your child can find hope in the Gospel as I have.
Dave Chew 